


Green Tinged Memories

by astrivikia



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Attempted Murder, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Mental Anguish, Mind Manipulation, Not 'The Future' compliant, Possession, Post-Hellbent (Mystery Skulls Animated), Psychological Trauma, Repressed Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27973901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrivikia/pseuds/astrivikia
Summary: “You do remember,” he hissed, shifting close into Arthur's space.  He had to remember.  There was no satisfaction in revenge if Arthur didn't understand why it was happening.  “It's in there; I'll show you.”
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 131





	Green Tinged Memories

**Author's Note:**

> *rolls up late to the Mystery Skulls Animated fandom.* What is up my dudes, I brought ANGST.

There were several things that had no right to be inside a semi truck. And a cliff above a sea of spikes was rightfully one of them. Atop said cliff, Lewis gazed down into a purple fog, taking in the form of Arthur below. He was crumpled in a heap on the ground, in a circle notably devoid of stalagmites.

A circle that had not existed until several moments earlier, when the ghost had dissolved them away in a moment of- he swept away the thoughts, the emotions, the doubts. No. Only a moment of weakness.

A noise of pain drifted up to him, the blonde shifting against the dark stone. Sparks danced across a damaged mechanical arm. When had he had a-

Lewis shook off that line of questioning. It didn't matter. He let himself rematerialize in a burst of flames near the crumpled form.

Arthur startled, jerking back with a terrified squeak that warped into a pitiful whimper of pain.

“L-lewis?” His voice was trembling, brown eyes wide and teary as he gazed up at him. His expression was a confusing mix of emotions, from joy to pain, confusion and sorrow. It was dizzying. It was **infuriating.** “Lew... I've been looking everywhere for you.”

The ghost jerked back, expression twisting. He was **lying.** Lies, betrayal, **pain.** “Don't try to trick me.” His voice was a low rumble, reverberating off the stone.

Arthur's expression tightened, gaze searching. “I'm not-”

“You know what happened to me!!” His fire flared with his anger, flames leaping across his shoulders and casting an eerie glow upon his former friend.

“I don't!” Arthur's words were fierce, a hoarse shout, even as his voice shook. His teeth were bared, eyes shining with sincerity. “You just went missing after the cave. Vivi didn't remember you. I could barely remember what happened.” The blonde's voice had fallen soft, steadily rising with emotion. He looked so... distraught?

Lewis's own emotions crackled and popped like embers, burning away the beginnings of doubt into nothing. “You **do** remember,” he hissed, shifting close into Arthur's space. He had to remember. There was no satisfaction in revenge if Arthur didn't understand **why** this was happening. “It's in there; I'll show you.”

Arthur's breath hitched as pink energy began to coil around him. He made to scrabble back, nearly vibrating with his panic as Lewis clamped a hand down on his shoulder to keep him there. Arthur let out a strangled sound as Lewis's essence melded into him, reaching into his mind.

_'No, please no, not again.'_

The terror reverberated through everything, shrieking dissonantly around Lewis. It was cloying in its intensity. He burned it away from him in a blinding flash of pink.

Mindscapes were strange. It was like floating in a dark void, the fuzzy static of shutting your eyes. A glow of gold was struggling, pulsing through the darkness in a frenzy. He pushed it down, pink aura wrapping around it like some mockery of a straitjacket. Sparks of horror continued to light the dark space, slowly sputtering away. Arthur curled inward, more a vague concept of a form, a bright point in the pink glow. He flickered wildly.

Lewis growled, tightening his hold as he dug into his memory, drawing that night to the surface. The night he was **murdered.**

_'No no no.'_

The memory was frayed and fragmented when he found it, large sections nothing but darkness.

He... hadn't been lying. He **didn't** remember.

But it was there. It was supressed, but still **there.**

Arthur shuddered, glitching and warping like a malfunctioning television feed. Lewis was vaguely aware of his physical body hyperventilating, hastily tightening control over it, forcing him to breathe. Not yet. He wasn't allowed to escape this.

Some part of him panged at the sheer terror that sparked and writhed around them. And then green burst over everything like a flare, the memory snapping into sharp clarity.

A running replay of Arthur's thoughts from that night filled the space, the images filling the staticky void.

 _'Please, please don't hurt them.'_ A green energy was coiled around the past Arthur, achingly similar to how Lewis was currently restraining him. Except it looked more like mist. The sensation of it spilling down his throat, choking him as he tried to speak, to beg.

The energy was pervasive, settling in his lungs, wicked thoughts that were wrong _'no shut up, I don't-'._ The presence didn't so much speak, as it pulled at everything, teased out the darkest desires and laughed at them, forcing Arthur into submission as he struggled against it.

Arthur's gaze looking down at his own arm, tinged an unholy green as it raised without his permission. _'Stop stop, please. Lewis!'_

And then the past Lewis was falling. The part he remembered. Except Arthur was screaming, if only within his own mind. Not the laughter he'd heard.

The viewpoint swiveled dizzyingly, and there was a beast, and absolutely blinding pain.

Lewis jerked away from the memory like he'd been burned. Arthur had been possessed. Arthur hadn't-

Arthur wasn't struggling against him anymore, eerily placid within his hold. No sparks came off him now, his glow faint, like a dying ember. The ghost fled his mindscape, flinching as Arthur's body crumpled the moment he was free.

The blonde was trembling, eyes scrunched shut as silent tears streaked down his cheeks.

His bright magenta eyes tracked over him, anchor twisting in guilt and sorrow as he properly assessed his condition without a haze of rage giving him tunnel vision.

His arm, the one he still had, was scraped from the fall, and no doubt going to bruise later. Other nicks and scrapes marred his skin, though whether from the fall, or the car crash, Lewis wasn't sure.

 _'Either way it's your fault.'_ His anchor throbbed at him, cracks spidering out even more.

Arthur had begun to hyperventilate again, now that Lewis was no longer forcing his body into compliance. The ghost reached for him without thinking, gathering the mechanic into his spectral arms.

Arthur shuddered, shrinking inward with a keening cry. Lewis didn't know if it was a fear response, or if there were other injuries the ghost couldn't see.

_**He had dropped Arthur off of a cliff, he had dropped Arthur off of a cliff.** _

He wanted to reach out again, reach into him again, gauge the injuries himself, make him breathe. But going into his mind again? Arthur would panic.

He'd already done enough damage, dredged up memories that had been forgotten for a reason. He didn't know quite what he felt now, but he knew he didn't want to hurt him further.

Instead he drew him closer, anchor settling against the other's chest and thrumming steadily. Arthur let out a trembling breath, not aware again, but perhaps calmed by the pulse.

Lewis drew in a wholly unnecessary breath of his own, taking care to pitch his voice to as human a tone as possible when he spoke. “Art... I- I'm sorry. I'm here; you're going to be okay.” He hoped he wasn't lying.

Arthur sagged against him, seeming to recognize him as a source of comfort in his distraught state, and clinging.

So much had been broken, so much they needed to fix.

For now, Lewis held his friend.


End file.
